2 BULLETIN 1047, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
value of all farms in the United States. The figures for estimated 
total farm mortgage indebtedness as given in the first column of 
Table 1 are based on the assumption that in each State all farms are 
on the average mortgaged to the same percentage of their value as 
are the owner-operated farms for which data are available. This is 
a somewhat bold assumption, as no comprehensive study has been 
made of the relative amount of indebtedness on owner-operated farms 
as compared with that on farms of other tenures. It seems probable 
that these figures are somewhat high for many States, or, in other 
words, that they represent the maximum rather than the actual 
amount. 
Information concerning the sources of farm mortgage loans, so far 
as present holders of mortgages represent such sources, is no more 
complete than the figures on total mortgages outstanding. The 
estimated totals of farm mortgages held by banks, as shown in the 
second column of Table 1, also involve certain assumptions which 
expose them to possible error. The method followed in arriving at 
these estimates will be outlined on a later page. 
NATURE AND COMPARABILITY OF DATA. 
The figures in Table 1 on loans held by insurance companies, by 
the Federal and joint-stock land banks, by State agencies, and by 
farm mortgage bankers, respectively, represent actually reported 
figures only. The amounts reported for the land banks are official 
and complete. 
The figures given for the amounts and percentages of farm loans 
held by the various agencies, although not exactly comparable, are, 
with certain explanations, sufficiently so to warrant their being 
presented together. The figures representing bank loans are distri- 
buted on the basis of the location of the banks rather than of the 
loans, whereas for the other agencies the location of the mortgaged 
property determines the allocation. An examination, therefore, of 
the amounts and percentages of loans held by the various agencies 
will disclose that in some States the banks held more than 100 per 
cent of the estimated total farm mortgages for the States in which 
they were located. This is due, of course, to the fact that the banks 
of these States had invested a considerable portion of their funds 
in farm loans in other States, chiefly certain States in the central 
section where land values are considered well established, and the 
rates of interest are nevertheless appreciably higher than in the 
States in which these banks are located. As a general rule, however, 
the farm mortgage loans held by banks are on land located in or 
near the regular business territory of the banks. 
